


The Return Of The King

by Cerdic519



Series: The British Revolution [13]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: 17th Century, Army, Assassination, Attempted Murder, Battle, England (Country), English Civil War, Exhaustion, F/M, Friendship, Gay Sex, Happy Ending, London, Love, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nobility, Oxfordshire, Parliament (UK), Politics, Religion, Revelations, Royalty, Scheming, Secrets, Yes They Actually Do It In A Royal Palace!, revolts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:08:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27107725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerdic519/pseuds/Cerdic519
Summary: September 1658 to May 1660.A constitutional mess sees a Commonwealth, a Protectorate, military rule and general chaos in little more than a year, while England just wants peace. The return of the king is nigh – but unfortunately for Stephen, the return of his someone he had long thought out of his life is nigher, and it all comes to an end in Whitehall Palace where two men take an unscheduled and fatal dip in the Thames. Thankfully there is a happy ending at which someone is ennobled and Jamie finally discovers the truth about his father. Which leads to some right Royal Consequences for a certain nobleman…..
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: The British Revolution [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809640
Kudos: 4





	1. Contents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lyster99](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyster99/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contents page.

A.D. 1658 (continued)  
_178\. Queen Dick_

A.D. 1659  
_179\. Farewells_  
_180\. Back To The Commonwealth_  
_181\. What Sort Of Man Does That?_  
_182\. The Menace From Massachusetts_

A.D. 1660  
_183\. Trap A John_  
_184\. The Rule Of Monck_  
_185\. Restoration_

MDCLVIII-MDCLX


	2. Queen Dick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October-December 1658.   
> The 'reign' of Richard Cromwell begins. A new parliament is called but someone picks the wrong boundaries and soon the place is full of troublemakers, ne'er-do-wells and malcontents (see under 'the more things change...'). There is a storm surge, and a country ceases to exist only years after it was formed.

**October 1658**   
**Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“That does surprise me”, Jamie said when Stephen told him the news. “I was sure that Fleetwood would be made commander-in-chief, but perhaps young Dickon wishes to keep the leadership of the army in his hands.”

“I would wager that many of the commanders only acquiesced in his becoming Lord Protector because they believed that they could push him around much more easily than his father”, the nobleman said. “I rather fear that they are right, and that this new regime will just stagger along until someone decides to put it out of our misery.”

“I feel sorry for the fellow”, Jamie said. “Not just because he is your son's brother-in-law but I know that some men are not suited to the roles they can find themselves in. It is like back in Germany; we had one commander who could not lead a troop of men to save his life, but fortunately he had a handsome and brilliantly talented second-in-command who was ready, willing and able to step up.”

Stephen rolled his eyes at his lover.

“You left out 'supremely modest'”, he smiled.

“I also left out 'and hung like a Clydesdale'”, Jamie grinned. “Let us adjourn to our room, my liege, and I will prove one of those two very thoroughly. A hint; it will not be the first one!”

Stephen sighed, but let his lover lead him from the room. His life was so hard.

Well, it was about to be!

MDCLVIII

**November 1658**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“I do not see it as important, that is all”, Jamie said. “Sending a fleet to 'monitor the situation' over the Swedes' renewal of hostilities in the Baltic, which in other words means dropping a heavy hint to the Dutch to back off from supporting Denmark.”

“Diana thinks that something else arising from the first round of the war may have repercussions for England”, Stephen said. “The fact that New Sweden was ceded to the United Provinces.”

“So our Continental rivals have acquired a load of truculent people who do not speak their language and are separated from their main settlements by a wide distance”, Jamie said. “The word 'Ireland' ring any bells?”

Stephen shook his head at the snarky bastard.

“This will mean that there is only one rival colonial power, and that a large one, between our New England and Virginia colonies”, he said. “They reckon that there will be some seventy-five thousand people in our 'empire' by the end of this decade. That may be ten times that of the New Netherlands but remember, our colonies are both split and more spread out, as well as forever arguing among themselves. A war over there seems likely, sooner or later.”

“That is the damnable thing about having separate lands”, Jamie said. “Germany was like that; it looked like someone had had a heart-attack while drawing some of the borders. Then there were always people who wanted to start a war to unite various bits of lands. Made for a lot of work, though.”

Stephen shuddered at the idea of his lover back at the front. Jamie was on to that in a trice and quickly crossed the room to pull his lover into his arms.

“Not that I ever could go back”, he said reassuringly. “Not when I have this at home.”

“Sap!” Stephen muttered, although he smiled as he said it.

MDCLVIII

**December 1658**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“The superstitious will say that it is an omen”, Jamie grinned. “Or old Olly looking up at us and wreaking his revenge on an ungrateful nation.”

“I hardly think my late relative would have indulged in a great storm that drove back our Baltic expedition”, Stephen said crisply. “Not when a brace of good lighting strikes could have fried the likes of Lambert and Fleetwood. Or even the king.”

“Perhaps he is saving them up for the parliament that his son will be calling ere long”, Jamie said. “All those politicians who kept their wallets tight shut when the army was going unpaid – a shot of electricity in the right place could give the poor moths a jolt!”

Stephen frowned as he read further down his letter.

“Oh”, he said softly.

“That sounds ominous”, Jamie said. “What 'oh'?”

“Diana says that Dickon is going back to the old boundaries at this Third Protectorate Parliament”, Stephen said, frowning. “You know what that means.”

“Peter Quicksilver having to step up and remain awake during a whole lot of boring speeches, a whole load of troublemakers back in Westminster, and the almost certain prospect of another purge in the future”, Jamie sighed. “Though I doubt this Cromwell has it in him to do such a thing. Which means that the Army may decide to step up and do it for him – if parliament annoys them enough.”

They both knew that by 'if', he meant 'when'.

MDCLVIII

**December 1658**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“You have people up in Fifeshire, do you not Uncle Jamie?”

Stephen suppressed a smile. Their god-daughter Elizabeth, now some thirteen years of age, had come over for a visit. Thankfully they had been decent (for them) and now she was cross-examining them.

“My Lord Amerike does”, Jamie corrected. “His cousin Paul, who runs the estate where we worked for a time back in the thirties. Why do you ask, Lissa?”

“That was why I came over”, she said. “I read it in one of the news-sheets today and remembered the county name. They say that there has been a great storm surge along most of Scotland's east coast, and I know from my studies that that includes Fifeshire.”

“I had better write to Paul and make sure that he is all right”, Stephen said, looking worried. “Those things are rare but they do happen, more in Scotland than here. Luckily Wormit is behind a headland so should have been protected from the worst.”

“What is a storm surge, Uncle Jamie?” their young visitor asked.

“You know how we get tides every twelve hours or so?” the soldier said.

“Yes?”

“Sometimes high winds and bad weather can make a tide much higher”, he said, “and come in much faster than usual.”

“That weird cousin of mine, Isaac¹, says that he thinks that tides are to do with the Moon passing overhead”, she said, frowning. “He is strange but clever; I know that he does not like his mother for abandoning him to get married a second time.”

“Adults do sometimes have to make difficult decisions”, Stephen said.

“I know”, she sighed. “Like when Father asks me to take the crew out for a walk 'and not to come back for an hour at least'. I had a devil of a time stopping young Blake last time and he moaned like anything. He should have been damn grateful; I know exactly what he would have seen had he made it back to the house. Parents!”

Both men laughed.

MDCLVIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _1) Stephen's distant cousin Isaac Newton, then at the King's School in Grantham from which his shortly to be widowed mother would withdraw him the following October in an attempt to make him a farmer. Luckily she failed._


	3. Farewells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> January-April 1659.   
> 'Queen Dick' loses control, as the second and last Lord Protector overplays his hand and learns the hard way that power comes from the barrel of a gun. The new parliament is, incredibly, fractious and divided (see also piscine species defecating in a marine environment), and is soon shown the door. A wrong is partially righted over a flattened village, an old man goes home to die, and Edward has another son.

**January 1659**   
**Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

Stephen ran down the list of names, frowning as he did so.

“I am to take it that this new parliament will indeed not be a utopia of peace and tranquillity?” Jamie smiled.

“Lambert and Fleetwood both members, which is bad”, his lover said. “And the old Lobster Heselrige back in, which will further stir the pot. If that mixture does not lead to an explosion of some sort sooner rather than later, then I will eat my hat!”

“It does not help that Lambert and Fleetwood, be they on the same side, have different ends in mind”, Jamie said. “Fleetwood still thinks that he can have Dickon as a puppet-ruler and then do what old Essex thought to do through the late king last decade. Lambert on the other hand wants a new Lord Protector, preferably one called John Lambert!”

“He might make a decent fist at it”, Stephen said, “but the mood in the country is against the current set-up. The question is, how will it crash and burn, and how much of a mess will it make when it does?”

“That is actually two questions, my liege”, Jamie smiled. “I think that old age may be catching up with you!”

Stephen glared at him.

“On the other hand”, the soldier grinned, “you have five minutes to be naked in our bedroom before I catch up with....”

His lover was already gone!

MDCLIX

**February 1659**  
 **Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“Christian.”

Stephen sighed, and not just in relief. Thunor had gone into labour the night before and after a long and difficult labour she had been safely delivered of another son. He had feared that the couple might choose a controversial name for the new Bradstock, but they had gone for a safe bet.

“Not Charles?” Jamie asked, echoing his thoughts.

“I did think of that”, Edward admitted, “but Thunor gave me such a look that I did not dare voice it.”

Stephen glared at his lover, who had very clearly just mouthed the word 'whipped' across to him. Thankfully out of sight of their host.

“Changing the subject”, he said, still looking warningly at his teasing lover, “did Peter speak to you about our new acquisition of Drenham?”

Edward yawned.

“Sorry”, he said. “Up all night.”

Jamie opened his mouth to make the obvious rejoinder but shut it when he saw his lover's warning look. He still smirked, though!

“He thinks that the cottages are all beyond repair”, the earl said, “but that some of the stone might be recovered and used for a new set of cottages a half-mile to the south. Homes for at least some of the dispossessed.”

Stephen knew that, as during his own tenure as head of the estate, such a liberal attitude towards the estate workers was far from the norm. Some villages had even been flattened just because they had been too close to their owner's great house and had spoiled his nice view¹! At least some of the former inhabitants of Drenham might be re-housed.

“I doubt that you will get much sleep with three bairns in the house² again”, Jamie smiled. “We had better go and let you see if....”

There was a wail from somewhere above, and the earl groaned but dutifully rose to his feet.

“At least hold your smirking until I am out of the damn room!” he muttered.

They did. Barely!

MDCLIX

**February 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“The new parliament has graciously condescended to recognize Dickon as the Lord Protector”, Stephen told Jamie.

His lover looked at him shrewdly.

“But?” he asked.

“Subject to certain demands, which they are still drawing up”, Stephen sighed. “They are now moving on to the matter of whether or not they recognize the House of Lords.”

“At least they managed to reach a decision on what to call them”, Jamie scoffed, “even if it did take them the best part of a month! I would wager that if they had been discussing ways to make themselves richer, the debate would have moved ever so slightly faster!”

Stephen shook his head at the snarky bastard, who was.... damnation he was right! And smirking in a way that suggested.... oh.

It was going to be a _good_ start to the day!

MDCLIX

**March 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“I have to admit that I was wrong”, Jamie said. “It did not take the Commons a whole months to decide to recognize the Lords. _Just four weeks!”_

Stephen rolled his eyes at the snarky bastard.

“Was there any trouble over arranging a ship?” he asked, changing the subject.

“No, Vale and Diana had it covered”, the soldier said. “I will still miss having them around, though.”

Their former steward Fraser had suffered a fall – not during one of what he called his 'sexcapades' with Chatton, perhaps surprisingly – and with his seventieth birthday looming over the horizon had decided that he wanted to go to his native Scotland. He had not been well of late and the unspoken 'to die' hung over everyone; Stephen had made all the arrangements so the two men could get to London and take a ship to Dundee where Paul would collect them and install them in a cottage on his estate. Chatton had said that if (when) the worst happened he would stay on in the North as he wanted to be with his lover until his own time came, so Paul would find him a job on the estate.

There may or may not have been a few tears in a certain Oxfordshire cottage and possibly even a lot lot of manly holding, but luckily Stephen had a lover who was obliging over that sort of thing.

MDCLIX

**April 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

The storm, when it broke, came out of the blue.

“Humiliated!” Stephen exclaimed. “Poor Dickon. But then it was pretty much inevitable.”

Relations between the new Lord Protector and his chief army officer Fleetwood had become increasingly strained, not helped by an obstreperous parliament which seemed to have forgotten that words were easily trumped by swords these days. It had blown up rather sooner than anyone had expected; Fleetwood had called for an assembly of army officers to 'discuss things', and most unwisely as things had turned out, 'Queen Dick' had tried to call a counter-meeting. It had rapidly become clear whose side the vast bulk of commanders were on, and the Lord Protector was now little more than an army puppet. His days were numbered, but at least he was still around – unlike parliament which had once again been shown the door.

“A tyrannical ruler giving parliament the boot because they do not agree with him”, Jamie said, pretending to think. “Hmm. I am sure I have seen that before somewhere.... it will come to me..... tip of my tongue.... 

Stephen shook his head at the rogue.

MDCLIX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _1) Only very rarely were there cases like Abbey Milton in Dorsetshire, demolished but replaced by the ‘model village’ of Milton Abbas some distance from the owner’s house. In most cases it was just tough luck!_   
>  _2) Their three elder children were still all alive and well, but because of poor health practices it was common to arrange for one or more to be brought up elsewhere 'to improve the odds'. Hence the second son Henry was being raised by Stephen's son Luke and his wife._


	4. Back To The Commonwealth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May-July 1659.   
> England threatens to spiral out of control as the restored Commonwealth lurches from one crisis to the next, although at least Richard Cromwell is finally put out of his misery. Up in Oxfordshire the estate has to deal with a worker linked with Royalist rebels, and Stephen fears that he may have a smirking carpenter to deal with again.

**May 1659**   
**Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“I give it less than a month”, Jamie said as he perused the news-sheet before them. “The likes of this 'Weekly Post' – impressive how it has appeared less than a week after we are being told that the Commonwealth is back, sort of – are a good thing, but sooner or later we will end up with a leader like Lambert or Fleetwood who cannot stomach criticism and they will try to shut them down.”

“And fail”, Stephen agreed. “The government cannot stop the presses.”

“But it can flood the market with its own news-sheets”, Jamie countered, “and that will have much the same effect. People will think the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes, which most leaders would settle for.”

“Fleetwood intends to recall the Rump”, Stephen said, “which he thinks that he can control.”

“Then sorry as I am to say it about your sort-of relative”, Jamie said, “he is stupider than he looks! The Rump will try to grab power for itself, like all parliaments. It is the default position of any man anywhere near power – grab it fast in case someone else gets there first.”

“Cynical as ever, my love”, Stephen smiled. 

“I think that the word you were looking for was 'correct', my love”, Jamie shot back.

MDCLIX

**May 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“At least one of the two has sense”, Stephen observed a few days later. “Either Lambert or Fleetwood has decided that the members purged by Pride will not be allowed back in.”

“Then whoever it was had better expect a whole lot of whining from the Rump”, Jamie said. “Parliament's power depends on its size, and they know that. They will move heaven and earth either to reverse that decision or find loopholes to admit their colleagues by twos and threes.”

“We live in interesting times”, Stephen smiled. “Like you and the battlefield, I do sometimes miss the cut and thrust of debate. But then I think of poor Peter having to sit on those benches while fighting down an urge to reach over strangle those windbags, and it passes.”

Jamie smiled and pulled his lover into a lazy embrace.

MDCLIX

**May 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“Fleetwood has been appointed commander-in-chief as he always wanted”, Stephen said with a sigh. “Dickon's days are surely numbered now.”

“He is a decent fellow”, Jamie said, “and I hope that they treat him well when they do pack him off somewhere. He will likely be but a footnote in history, but all men matter.”

“They are talking about pensioning him off and at least paying all the debts that he has run up as leader”, Stephen said. “That is the very least they should do. And Lambert has outlined the Council of State's demands to the Rump, telling them what he expects of them.”

“I would wager he thinks that politicians are like the men under him, obliged to obey his every command and last whim”, Jamie said dryly. “I give it a sixmonth before they come to blows.”

Stephen rolled his eyes at the fellow, even if he strongly suspected that he was right.

MDCLIX

**May 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“Dickon has resigned”, Stephen said with a sigh. “No more Lord Protector, and farewell to the House of Lords that the Commons spent months working out what to call. We are a Commonwealth again.”

“Until the next time parliament crosses the men with guns and we become a military state”, Jamie said. “The king must be viewing this with great satisfaction from over the water.”

“But the Army is still powerful”, Stephen reminded him. “We are not even near a settled solution any time soon, I fear.”

MDCLIX

**June 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“Never mind vox populi, we are living in the age of vox military!”

Jamie chuckled at his lover's annoyance.

“What has gone wrong this time?” he asked.

“Henry Cromwell has resigned over in Ireland”, Stephen said. “That is bad. I suppose that after his brother going it was pretty much inevitable but I was hoping that the new regime might have the sense to keep him on.”

“Not when he kept upsetting the soldiers by so cruelly refusing their demands to victimize the Irish Protestants”, Jamie said. “I am no supporter of that family as you know, but even I think that he worked wonders to have kept the island peaceful through all this. Especially given what England has gone through of late.”

“I remember him getting less than one-sixth of the moneys he needed to pay his men”, Stephen recalled, “which when you think how poor Ireland is, yes. He did exceptionally well, far better than Fleetwood before him. If the Irish had had any sense they would be begging him to stay on or beseeching Lambert not to accept his resignation.”

“Since when do people have sense these days?” Jamie sighed.

MDCLIX

**July 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

Stephen sighed deeply as he read Vale's letter from London.

“Only in England”, the nobleman said. “Only here could a parliament come up with a compromise that, far from satisfying some, has angered all.”

“What have they done this time?” his lover asked, eyeing him hungrily from across the room. 

Stephen swallowed nervously before answering. He had had a particularly thorough wake-up call from the soldier that morning, the rogue seemingly determined to thrust him through their bed and into the floor. He really did not want to have to have Bruce over to repair their bed again, especially as some cocky bastard not a million miles away always strutted around the place so much afterwards. It was not as if they had broken the thing more than once, after all.

_Four times was not that many!_

“They have passed something called the Act of Indemnity and Pardon”, Stephen said, speaking quickly as his teasing lover ran his tongue around his lips far too provocatively for half-past nine of a morning. “Setting out who is to be forgiven their sins for cash and who is not.”

Jamie snorted at that.

“Let me guess”, he said. “The Commonwealth has declared all acts passed under the Protectorate to be illegal?”

Stephen nodded.

“I really hope that they did not expect to get that past someone as sharp as Lambert”, he said. “He would have had his officers beating down his door after they had read that; they would have foreseen that it would leave them wide open to having their own lands seized.”

“I would suggest that parliament would be neither that duplicitous or that stupid”, Jamie said dryly. “But I know what politicians are like!”

Stephen was about to smile when he realized.

 _”I_ was one of those politicians!” he pointed out.

“And?” Jamie asked dryly.

Stephen pouted at him.

MDCLIX

**July 1659**  
 **Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

The earl sighed in his usual put-upon way.

“Did my steward up there know?” he asked.

Stephen shook his head. There had been a minor Royalist uprising in Chipping Norton in the far north of the county; the local soldiers had swiftly put it down but unfortunately the potential rebels had assembled on Bradstock Estate property. Which was the last thing they needed right now.

“His deputy must have done, though”, he said. “An unpleasant little worm of a fellow called Roberts. They met in the steward's house but Benfield was visiting his sick sister up in Stratford, twenty miles away. And he is quite the Puritan.”

“This Roberts will have to be sacked, dear”, Thunor said firmly. “Of course it is not my place to advise you over such things and Mr. Buchanan, if that is a smirk I can see forming there then be assured that you _will_ live to regret it!”

Stephen sighed at his lover. He knew that innocent look.

“I am afraid that some action will have to be taken, my lord”, he said. “A Royalist meeting in the house of an estate steward – even with all that is going on in London right now, someone is bound to ask questions. You know how effective the regime's spy network is, regardless of who is in control.”

“Does this Mr. Roberts have family?” the earl asked.

“He is unmarried”, Stephen said, “and his only family is a brother down in Enstone whom he does not talk with.”

“Inform him that he has three days to leave my service”, the earl said, “after which we will have to inform the authorities of the results of our inquiries. He may choose to stay in which case he can face the consequences, but if he leaves then he will have two month's salary. That should be enough to get him to Bristol and a ship to the New World.”

“Pity the New World, then!” Jamie muttered.

MDCLIX


	5. What Sort Of Man Does That?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August-September 1659.   
> England threatens to spiral out of control as the restored Commonwealth lurches from one crisis to the next. Another Royalist uprising is suppressed after which a man dresses up as a woman but does not pull it off. John Lambert is given and immediately sells a jewel, while Stephen receives some sad tidings from Scotland.

**August 1659**   
**Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

The assembly on estate lands at Chipping Norton turned out to be rather more than it had first seemed, as further arrests over the following fortnight suggested that a full-scale Royalist uprising had been planned. Among those arrested was one name familiar to Stephen and Jamie.

 _“Again?”_ Jamie asked incredulously.

“Stephen nodded.

“Again”, he confirmed. “They caught Massey at Gloucester, presumably trying to raise his old stamping-ground. But he somehow slipped from their clutches.”

Jamie looked at his lover speculatively.

“Deliberately?” he wondered. 

“As you once told me, looking the other way is easy to do”, Stephen said. “And if anyone makes a fuss later then everyone involved will just blame everyone else, and it will look like a confusion of orders.”

“I am glad he escaped”, Jamie said. “He deserves to be remembered as one of the best soldiers in these times, although I would wager many will hold his having changed sides against him.”

“A man must follow where his conscience leads him”, Stephen said. “That is the way of Mankind.”

“Conscience or ambition”, Jamie muttered.

MDCLIX

**August 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

About a week later the uprising became even more of a reality.

“Sir George Booth has seized Chester”, Stephen said. “But only the town, not the castle which has remained loyal to parliament.”

“It will be Penruddock all over again”, Jamie prophesied gloomily. “A brief spurt of action, a run of executions and a whole load of people ending up getting 'Barbadosed'!”

Stephen nodded as he opened his second letter. Then his face fell.

“What is it?” Jamie asked anxiously.

“Fraser”, Stephen said sadly. “He died during that big storm last week.”

“At least he got his wish to be in his homeland”, Jamie said comfortingly.

Stephen managed a small smile

“And to go out the way he wanted”, he said.

“What?”

“Chatton writes that once again the weather had its usual effect, except that this time his lover 'went out with a bang'”, Stephen smiled. “He definitely died with a smile on his face!”

“They must have found it difficult to close the coffin lid, then!” Jamie grinned.

His lover rolled his eyes at him for that.

MDCLIX

**August 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“You were right about Booth's uprising”, Stephen sighed. “He has been defeated in a small skirmish at a place called Winnington Bridge, in Cheshire.”

“His great revolt in the king's name did not even make it out of his home county”, Jamie said. “Has he been captured?”

“No, but there is a price on his head”, Stephen said. “He is not far from the coast though, so he may yet escape.”

“Or he may make for London and try to lose himself in the city”, Jamie said. “I would wager that that is where Massey went after Gloucester; they can do some groundwork for the next failed uprising.”

“What does worry me is that Lambert commanded the army that defeated him”, Stephen said. “That will greatly increase his standing and make him an even stronger candidate for whatever the top role is going to be called.”

“I thought that parliament had decreed no more having one man in charge?” Jamie asked with a smile.

“Parliament can decree until the cows come home”, Stephen said shortly, “but the day is still far ahead when the ideas of Lilburne can take root in England. One ruler is still the default position, as a certain Mr. O. Cromwell recently proved.”

“Talking of the late Freeborn John, his brother Robert may be a man to watch”, Jamie said. “More a second-in-command than a leader in my opinion, but every leader needs someone like him to hand. It would be ironic if the brother of the great troublemaker ended up in any position of authority!”

MDCLIX

**September 1659**  
 **Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

If it was indeed possible to die of sheer mortification, then Stephen was sure it would happen to him some time in the next few minutes. Somehow a conversation about a recent political development had devolved into..... ugh!

It had started when they called on Edward and Thunor to see how young Christian was progressing, and had found the latest news-sheet there.

“I was going to send it over”, Edward said apologetically, “but there is little in it except that they caught Booth¹.”

“Where?” Stephen asked.

“Newport Paynel”, Edward said. “He must have been making for London, I suppose. And you will not believe this but he was wearing women's clothing!”

“A disguise, one hopes”, his wife put in with a smile. 

“What else could it have been?” her husband demanded. “I mean, what sort of man wears.....”

He stopped, realizing a fraction of a second too late just where this conversation was headed. Stephen stared hopefully at a floor which seemed damnably disobliging in not opening up and swallowing him whole, the whole situation made even worse by someone's smirk!

“You two!” the earl grumbled.

“I did wonder what a Scotsman wears under his kilt”, his wife smiled. “And to think the answer was close to hand all the time!”

The earl groaned. Jamie snickered.

“Actually it is Ste who wears....”

“Bucky, for heaven's sake!”

MDCLIX

**September 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“Clever”, Stephen muttered as he read his latest letter. “And worrying.”

His lover prodded him.

“You know that when you come out with things like that, I am strongly tempted to fuck the whole truth out of you?” he teased.

“Like that deters me!” Stephen smiled. “Parliament has voted Lambert a jewel worth a thousand pounds² for his victory at Winnington Bridge.”

“That seems fair”, Jamie said. “Why do you call it worrying?”

“He has sold it and distributed the moneys among his regiment”, Stephen said. “That will buy him a lot of support.”

“Rent rather than buy”, Jamie corrected. “People tend to have short memories when it comes to cash they receive and much longer ones when it comes to moneys owed to them. That is human nature.”

“It is what he is doing now that concerns me”, Stephen said. “He has taken his regiment to Derby and they are drawing up a petition to present to parliament. As well as the usual demands that the soldiers actually be paid for risking their lives....”

“Funny how the Rump had not gotten around to that!” Jamie snarked.

“He is also demanding that they refrain from trying to control the Army”, Stephen said, rolling his eyes at his snarky lover.”

“Parliament to refrain from sticking its nose into things”, Jamie grinned. “Has he also requested a return trip to the Moon while he is at it?”

Stephen just sighed. His lover was terrible!

MDCLIX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _1) Booth was lucky. He was thrown into the Tower but they did not get around to dealing with him before the Restoration the following year, after which the king made him 1st Baron Delamer._   
>  _2) Assuming an average-sized regiment, this would have meant a cash gift of around £140 ($165) to each soldier at 2020 prices, but worth a lot more to soldiers whose regular pay was still.... irregular._


	6. The Menace From Massachusetts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October-December 1659.   
> Over two decades of war between France and Spain comes to an end, while in England John Lambert shows parliament the door. It looks like he is indeed going to be the country’s third Lord Protector – but up in Scotland one of his rivals who he had thought to have put in check makes a counter-move. Meanwhile Stephen receives some very bad news from London.

**October 1659**   
**Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“Well, it finally happened”, Stephen said with a heavy sigh. “The Rump tried to remove Fleetwood as commander-in-chief, and Lambert has shown them the door.”

“They should know the way out by now”, Jamie said. “What do you think his end game is? Another Lord Protector, perhaps? Or king even?”

“Diana says that he wanted to get rid of them last month”, Stephen said, “but decided to get his placemen into the ranks where there might be trouble first.”

“You mean Monck up in Scotland”, Jamie said. “A good soldier and popular with his men; not one that I would care to ever find myself up against. Lambert has done well to neutralize him.”

“But any man in power makes enemies”, Stephen said. “They do say that you should be careful what you wish for. He may find that having power is not all that he might have thought.”

“I wish for hot and steamy sex with my lover right now”, Jamie said off-handedly. “Coming?”

Stephen just gaped at him. How did he come out with things like that?

“What was I saying?” Jamie grinned. “Of course you will be coming!”

One of these days, Stephen thought as he hurriedly got to his feet, he was going to follow Fraser to the grave, sexed to death by his lover. 

Life was good!

MDCLIX

**October 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“That is bad news for whatever regime we have in power”, Jamie said. “It may have changed since last I looked of course; that was at least twenty minutes ago.”

Stephen sighed at him.

“This Treaty of the Pyrenees¹ between France and Spain”, he said. “It ends over two decades of war between England's old enemies, and frees them both up to support the king. He will be the subject of a bidding war ere long.”

“He would do better to shun them both and await developments here”, Jamie said, “but so far he has proven disinclined to wait. A pity, as I cannot see Lambert's regime holding for long.”

“He has guns”, Stephen said simply. “In recent times, that seems to have been the most important thing.”

MDCLIX

**October 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

Stephen's eyebrows shot up as he read the latest letter from his cousin.

“Developments in London?” Jamie asked.

“No, Scotland”, Stephen said. “Vale has learned that Monck managed to get rid of all the placemen that Lambert had had placed in his ranks, and has informed Fleetwood that he would like parliament recalled.”

“If he is not careful then he will soon have a large army marching north against him”, Jamie said.

Stephen thought for a moment.

“What?” Jamie asked.

“I was wondering”, the nobleman said. “Queen Jane Grey.”

“You have found out about my secret lover!” Jamie exclaimed in what was very obviously mock anguish. “Alas, alack, woe the day!”

Stephen rolled his eyes at the resident drama queen.

“I remember reading how her brief reign ended in 1553”, he said. “Her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, was persuaded to lead an army out of the capital to hunt down her rival Mary Tudor. Once he was gone, London turned against him.”

“That was 1553”, Jamie pointed out. “Lambert has a very different and much more professional army now.”

“Yes”, Stephen said, “which is why I think Vale's remark about what he calls 'the fair facts of the situation' is interesting.”

His lover looked blankly at him.

“The fair facts”, Stephen repeated. “Fairfax. What if Monck has reached out to him in Yorkshire and asked for help? Lambert would have to march through the county to get to Edinburgh; the old general might raise a force behind him and cut him off.”

“I see”, Jamie said. “Yes, that might work; I doubt he could raise many men but many of Lambert's own men will draw the line at opposing the man who served the common soldier so well in his time.”

“It is a risky business all round”, Jamie said. “I rather think that one way or another, we are entering the end game.”

MDCLIX

**October 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

Rather oddly there was another letter from Vale the very next day.

“What was so important that he felt the need to tire out the poor courier so?” Jamie asked.

Stephen read the letter, then went pale.

“What?” Jamie asked anxiously.

“Johnnie”, Stephen said, his face ashen. “He has been thrown out of his latest colony after trying to kill a man – and he was last reported to be taking a ship to England! That was three months ago; he might even be here already!”

Jamie's eyes widened. That was bad!

MDCLIX

**November 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

One departure. One (possible) arrival. A whole load of worry either way.

The departure was that of John Lambert, heading north to 'talk' with Monck. With some sixteen thousand soldiers. As one does.

The possible arrival was, sadly, Stephen's renegade younger brother. At a distance of over three thousand miles even his sister-in-law's information network was strained to find things out, but in the days after the dreadful news she did manage to unearth several things. Unsurprisingly this was the _tenth_ settlement that John Amerike had been ejected from, and his behaviour had become even more erratic of late. His surviving son had not only moved west but had changed his name while so doing and then almost immediately moved again, presumably to prevent his father from finding him.

Now, unfortunately, it seemed that said father was after someone else. Letters had already been dispatched to Aidan and any other family members who might be in danger, but it was Diana's opinion (although she was careful how she phrased it) that he would most likely target either Stephen or Jamie. He seemed to bear a particular grudge against the latter for being accepted into the family for his good behaviour while he himself had been estranged for his bad. Presumably the idea of changing that behaviour had found his mind too narrow to cross.

Jamie insisted on renewing his lover's skills with a dagger, just in case. Both men were now very nervous.

MDCLIX

**December 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“It is a sign of weakness”, Jamie said, “much as they would wish it to be seen otherwise.”

Stephen sighed.

“I can but agree”, he said. “Fleetwood promising a new parliament three months from now 'under the guidance of the army'. In other words, think of the sword-point at your belly before you cast that vote. But he hopes that it will win over some waverers.”

“The rumours are the Navy is less than happy, too”, Jamie said. “Otherwise why would the Admiralty send them an order to only obey direct instructions from them. Again, a sign of weakness.”

“That is government for you”, Stephen said. “Something must be done, so if we all run around like headless chickens then that is something!”

Jamie smiled at the analogy.

MDCLIX

**December 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“It looks like the Admiralty were right to be concerned”, Jamie observed a few days later. “The Channel Fleet has basically mutinied and set sail for the Thames. Pray God that the ships at Portsmouth are not ordered after them; we do not want Englishmen killing Englishmen again.”

“I doubt such an order would be obeyed just now”, Stephen said. “Lambert has gotten his men safely to Newcastle, within sight of the border. It is at times like this I am really grateful us Amerikes live in such an out of the way place like Hexhamshire.”

MDCLIX

**December 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“That went well”, Stephen smiled. “Those men sent down to Portsmouth to persuade the ships there to stay loyal – they have defected to parliament along with the ships! And the fleet arrived in the Thames is also demanding a new parliament. Even the Council of Officers has given up the ghost after the Council of London elections returned a cartload of Royalists.”

“Voting for the wrong side”, Jamie tutted. “How very dare they?”

“It almost makes me wish I was there to see history happen”, Stephen said somewhat wistfully. “But given the danger – here and there – I would much rather stay home with the man I love.”

Jamie smiled at that, and pulled his lover into an embrace.

MDCLIX

**December 1659**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“Fleetwood has surrendered the keys of the city to Lenthall, the Speaker”, Stephen told Jamie. “The Rump is back – at least until Lambert returns with his sixteen thousand men.”

“The reports are that he is heading back to the capital”, the soldier said. “That means he will have to secure York. Now we will see if Fairfax can deliver.”

“I do not know how Diana manages it”, Stephen said, “but somehow she knows that Monck has moved to the Border. A place called Coldstream¹ on the Tweed.”

“That surprises me”, Jamie said. “It is a tiny place, hardly big enough to support an army. But then Monck has a reputation for not sparing himself when it comes to the privations affecting his men. Unlike too many commanders I have known in my time, I might add. Coldstream was where the Scots crossed in the Bishops' Wars.... ye Gods, nearly two decades back!”

“The question is”, Stephen mused, “which of the many sides will Monck come down on if – or when – he does reach London?”

MDCLIX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _1) France gained Artois, some small enclaves in the north-east and Northern Catalonia (the area around Perpignan) in the south. King Louis the Fourteenth promised to stop supporting rebellions in Portugal (already all but independent) and Catalonia (where the revolt was all but crushed anyway). It was a minor clause in the treaty which later caused disaster; Louis married King Philip the Fourth's daughter Maria Theresa, and the extinction of the Spanish male line in 1700 led to the War of the Spanish Succession that lasted for over a decade._   
>  _2) In 1661 with the Restoration in full swing, parliament voted to abolish all standing regiments of the New Model Army. However (and perhaps rather conveniently) there was a Royalist uprising two days before the last regiment, that of Monck, was to be disbanded and it was instrumental in suppressing said uprising. This made parliament think that a standing army might be a good idea after all, so Monck's regiment became what it still is today, the longest-serving unit in the British Army – the Coldstream Guards._


	7. Trap A John

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> January 1660.   
> Dark times loom for both England and the dynamic duo, who face the threat of Stephen's murderous younger brother possibly already in England. John Lambert finds himself caught in a pincer movement from which there is no escape, while an unexpected invitation leads the duo to finally visit London. Oh, and there are two deaths.

**January 1660**   
**Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

The earl had taken to having Bruce ride down to Oxford each day, to see what the latest news was. A few days into the new year he came back with two things, a news-sheet and an observation. Luckily Stephen and Jamie had come over and were there when he arrived.

“I had better tell you what I saw first”, the young man said. “Or rather, what I did not see. Soldiers.”

“What?” Stephen asked.

“I asked around”, Sean said, “and everyone said the same. The soldiers have been confined to their houses for the time. Clearly their commanding officer is keeping his options open given what is happening down in London. Talking of that, I was lucky enough to be there when the latest news-sheet arrived.”

He handed it to the earl.

“There is quite a bit in it”, he said. “The Rump has sent men north to meet with Monck and, I quote, 'divine his attentions'.”

“Good luck discovering those”, Jamie remarked. “Monck would make a terrifying card-player!”

“At least the men will have an easy task finding him, wherever he is on the road”, Sean said. “Lilburne and the advance guard that Lambert gave him have surrendered to Fairfax at York.”

“That cuts off Lambert's path south”, Jamie said confidently, “and his own men will think twice when they hear that the mighty Fairfax has come out of retirement to oppose them. A soldier never forgets a man who stands by him in time of need.”

“He may however forget to tuck his shirt in before visiting a neighbour!” Thunor said sharply.

Jamie blushed.

MDCLX

**January 1660**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

“Monck met the Rump's delegation at Morpeth on the fourth”, Stephen told Jamie a few days later. “He told them that he was fully in favour of restoring parliament.”

Jamie sniggered.

“Please tell me that they did not fall for that?” he asked. “Or were they too scared of him to ask, 'er sir, which parliament would that be?'”

“Short, Long, Protectorate, Barebones, Rump or some other confection”, Stephen agreed. “History will look back at the fifties and wonder; precisely how did we make such a spectacular mess of government in so short a time?”

“Monck must be past Newcastle by now, then”, Jamie said. “What was your letter from London? It was not the usual one from Vale and Diana.”

“No, but it concerns them”, Stephen said. “As you know they have been mulling over a much larger site for the shop further up Whitehall, and outside the boundaries of the palace. However, even though it is currently minus a king, the palace is still royal land so my permission is needed for a sale as it is my name on the document; Edward was too young when I signed. Worse, I have to go to London to do it.”

Jamie scowled.

“Not now, surely?” he asked. “With Monck marching on the place?”

“You know as well as I do that the king is minded that whoever owns what when and if he is restored, then that is it”, Stephen said with a sigh. “This idiot official – a Mr. Claret – says that parliament has the right to foreclose on all three properties if we do not complete the appropriate paperwork. Do not worry, my love. I will keep safe.”

“I am not worried”, Jamie said firmly. “I am coming with you!”

Stephen smiled at his lover's protectiveness.

MDCLX

**January 1660**  
 **Charlton-on-Sewell, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND**

The day that the two were to set out for the capital, there was a further development.

“The Rump will not like that at all”, Jamie observed. “Monck insisting that when he said he was wanting to see a parliament, he meant a full one. Including the purged members still banned by the Rump for the heinous crime of not sharing their opinions.”

“With Lambert's army disintegrating by the hour, our Scottish general must feel strong enough to enforce his demands now”, Jamie said. “One of the strange things about the fellow is that he is very much a constitutionalist, like the late Cromwell. He will follow all the rules but to the letter, and will work to find a way round any that he considers wrong.”

“By using lunar months, perhaps”, Stephen smiled. “It is a pity that Edward could not come with us but then with Thunor expecting again – the dog! - he does not want to be away from her for any length of time.”

“You mean that she would not let him go!” Jamie laughed.

“Pretty much!”

MDCLX

**January 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

“Game one to the newcomer”, Stephen smiled as he came in from his walk. Jamie had been helping Diana and Vale prepare for the move and looked up at him, dusty and sweating.

“Monck?” the soldier asked.

“He has reached St. Albans, barely a day's march away”, Stephen said. “I suppose that parliament thought stationing other units around the capital might make him think twice about making any demands, but he has simply sent that since he has come as asked, would they please move those units to make room for his own men?”

“Very clever”, Jamie praised. “We all know the Rump only 'invited' him down because he was coming anyway and they wanted to make it look as if they were in charge. He has turned that neatly against them.”

“With effect, because he has got his way”, Stephen said. “I must go over to the palace tomorrow to sign those documents; I also have to look for a new place for Edward and Thunor while I am at it. She has given me very precise instructions as to what she wants.”

“And knowing her, a list of what she will do to you if you fall short!” Jamie grinned.

“Too true!”

MDCLX

**January 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

January the twenty-ninth. A day that would end with two men dead.

The largest palace in all Europe (even if it was minus a certain resident) seemed even more of a maze than Stephen remembered, as he and Jamie walked along seemingly endless corridors before they finally reached a door high up overlooking the Thames. They were admitted to the offices of the annoying Mr. Claret, which seemed positively luxurious.

Mr. Claret (he presumably had a first name but it was not offered or shown anywhere) greeted them and led the out onto the balcony. He was a tall and rather cadaverous fellow who instinctively made both men think 'funeral director', and he clearly looked down on them from the top of a long nose.

“I am afraid that it is a palace rule”, Mr. Claret said. “All documents concerning a transfer of ownership concerning palace property must be signed in the open air so that the Good Lord can witness them. Given the somewhat irregular political situation, I am sure that you gentlemen would not wish there to be any doubt in the event of..... future problems.”

“Of course not”, Stephen said, looking along the front of the palace. This was the northernmost of what looked like five such balconies in this part of the building, presumably built so the denizens of the place could enjoy the river which they were actually above at this point. A rather smelly and disgusting river given what the people of London and its adjoining towns poured into it, but luckily most of them were downstream. There was a figure on the next but one balcony along and the river was crowded with boats, but that apart it was fairly quiet.

Mr. Claret looked at his watch for some reason.

“Are you expecting someone?” Stephen asked politely.

“No”, the official said, frowning. “My watch must be fast; I thought that the city clocks would have begun striking the hour.”

As if on cue the first church chimed in the distance, soon followed by numerous others. Stephen looked pointedly at his lover.

The cacophony was still going on when there was a noise from the next balcony along. A tatterdemalion figure burst through the doors wielding what was definitely a pistol, and grinned menacingly at them from only a few yards away.

“Hullo, brother mine.”

Stephen merely nodded.

“Hullo, John”, he said.

“Hullo Johnnie”, Jamie said, equally calmly.

Their lack of reaction clearly rattled the villainous Amerike for a moment, but he swiftly rallied.

“Though I would come back and make you pay for ruining my life”, he sneered. “You first, Barnes, then lover-boy here.”

Stephen smiled at him. 

“Look behind you”, he said simply,

His brother sneered.

“Like I am going to fall for.....”

There was the sound of a gun going off, and John Amerike stopped in the middle of what was to be his last sentence on this earth. He stared in confoundment at the two men before him, then clearly made an effort to try to lift his gun again as he staggered to the balcony railing. He must have managed to pull the trigger but instead of firing the thing exploded, causing him to shriek with agony as he topped over the balcony and disappeared into the river below with a mighty splash.

Stephen turned back to Mr. Claret, who backed away from him only to realize that his back was to the railing. And the dirty river.

“The gentleman on that third balcony is Mr. Eastwood”, he said, “one of the best shots in the Three Kingdoms. He has three guns, Mr. Claret, and both Jamie and I have our daggers.”

“Sir, I protest!”

“You thought to lure us here with a claim that I would have to sign some legal form”, Stephen said calmly. “It gives me great pleasure to tell you, sir, that your movements have been monitored from the moment that my now late brother approached you in that Holborn tavern and asked for your help. You decided to oblige him in return for a large sum of money which, by the way, he would likely not have paid. Now you have a choice.”

The official glanced anxiously over the railing at the river below.

“You would not kill me for that?” he quavered.

Stephen glanced quickly at Jamie. 

“Would we kill him for that, Bucky?”

The soldier pretended to think about that for some little time.

“Aye”, he said. “We would.”

Mr. Claret suddenly ran to the far end of the railing and heaved himself up onto it. 

“You will never catch me!” he yelled in triumph.

His triumph was short-lived, for the bullet caught him before he could leap. He gasped, managed one last hateful look at them both, then toppled head-first into the river.

“More pollution”, Jamie sighed. "Ah well.”

MDCLX


	8. The Rule Of Monck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> February to April 1660.   
> General George Monck has to guide the country on its perilous path from anarchy back towards… towards whatever his destination is. Two men are disposed of, John Lambert has one last and unsuccessful stab at power, and there is a Declaration from some country or other.

**February 1660**   
**Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

“This is all going far too well.”

Stephen smiled at his lover's cynicism. Monck had finally reached the capital to be welcomed by one and all, and parliament had agreed to make itself up to almost its original strength before all these constitutional complications had begun.

“”Sometimes things do work out for the best”, Stephen said. “Though not perhaps for a certain brother of mine.”

The bodies of John Amerike and Mr. Claret – incredibly no-one seemed to know the latter's first name – had both been recovered from the Thames. The official had duly been hung and the nobleman beheaded; it had all seemed rather pointless to Stephen but he knew that the citizens of London needed their 'entertainments', especially the way things were just now.

“We have had nearly a quarter of a century of things going belly up”, Jamie said shortly. “Something is bound to go wrong. I just feel it in my bones.”

MDCLX

**February 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

Sure enough, something did. 

“I said that Monck was one to follow rules”, Jamie said sagely. “And one to listen to his men when they speak. This daft decision of parliament to get his men to dismantle the city's defences was bound to annoy the common soldiers; they came to liberate the place, not to demolish it!”

“But he did listen to them” Stephen pointed out, “and now he has given the Rump a choice. Admit the banned members now and see their power dissolved, or try their luck against him and a load of riled, angry and well-armed men. Not that difficult a choice, really.”

“Not to anyone with sense!” Jamie snorted. “But you forget; this is the Rump. Give them the easy way or the hard way, and they will always choose the hard way!”

MDCLX

**February 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

Once again, James Buchanan was being totally cynical. Once again, James Buchanan was proved totally correct.

“Rumour has it that Massey was behind the soldiers unhappiness about their pay”, Stephen told Jamie. “That and parliament suddenly finding that they did not have the ready cash to pay them seems to have decided Monck.”

“What has he done?” Jamie asked.

“Marched right into parliament!”

The soldier sighed.

“Not again?” he exclaimed.

“But not with soldiers this time”, Stephen smiled. “He managed to round up some seventy-odd members who had been purged and insisted that they be allowed back in. The Rump members are now outgunned both in a parliamentary and a military sense. The Long Parliament is back in business!”

MDCLX

**March 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

“We need to have soldiers in parliament more often!” Jamie exclaimed a few weeks later. “I have never seen such activity from our elected politicians, just because someone shoves a gun somewhere!”

Stephen rolled his eyes at his lover.

“Apart from a few minor matters they have done exactly what they were told to do”, he said. “Sent Lambert to the Tower, then decided to dissolve themselves and call for a new set of elections. It will be a Royalist landslide; everyone will want to get back to the way things were.”

Jamie was silent at that.

“What?” Stephen asked.

“Do you think things ever can be the way they were before?” Jamie asked. “Remember your Roman history and Sulla¹?”

“No?”

“The old Republic's first dictator”, Jamie said, “or at least the first recorded one. Once he had shown that power lay with the ever larger army it opened the door to anyone who could become popular with the legions, and eventually to Caesar, Augustus and the end of the Roman Republic.”

“I suppose that also there is the fact that if the king does come back, it will be difficult for a lot of people”, Stephen conceded. “But he did once tell us that that would have to be the basis for any reform; forgive and move on even if one does not forget.'”

“That has always been the way of monarchy in this country”, Jamie said. “Great Elizabeth was great because she understood that and worked with the system, playing it to her advantage. The last king just believed everyone had to obey him else they were clearly evil. The result was he lost his head.”

“We can but hope that his son is wiser, then”, Stephen said.

MDCLX

**March 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

“Monck has all but played his hand now”, Stephen said as he read the latest news-sheet. “He has sent a warm letter to the king and 'invited' those of his men who do not wish to serve king and parliament to resign their commissions.”

“I suspect that that is 'invited' as in 'I invite you to fall to your death if I push you off this high cliff'!” Jamie snarked.

“It all hinges on the king now”, Stephen said. “Or perhaps on Hyde; if he can persuade his master to issue a letter of intent that promises a peaceful restoration with few acts of vengeance, then the throne will be his.”

MDCLX

**April 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

There was a hiccough in the otherwise surprisingly smooth progress towards a settlement when the security at the Tower of London once again failed, and John Lambert escaped. The worries lasted less than a fortnight however before he was captured at Daventry in Northamptonshire, having tried and failed to raise a force against Monck. His few men scattered when they saw what was coming after them and he was soon back under what everyone hoped would be a rather closer guard from now on.

MDCLX

**April 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

“Technically it should be called the Declaration of Brussels.”

Stephen rolled his eyes at his pedantic lover.

“The king may have written it in the Spanish Netherlands”, he said, “but he could hardly have dispatched his offer from a country that we have so recently been at war with. Hence the move to Breda in the United Provinces.”

“It seems very reasonable”, Jamie said. “Pardons all round except of course for the regicides, plus Lambert and Vane. Quite right in both cases.”

“I worry a bit about Vane”, Stephen said. “That he betrayed Strafford is beyond doubt, but the fact that the king clearly bears a grudge against him – that is too like his late father. Still, overall it is a good thing. Whether a vengeful parliament will enforce more than its conditions remains to be seen.”

“Maybe it is better that a lot of their anger is vested in those beyond their reach”, Jamie said. “They will dig up Cromwell and Ireton, and likely several others, which may perhaps stop them going after the others so fervently.”

“The country wants peace”, Stephen said. “Let us hope that we all get it.”

MDCLX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _1) Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (138-78 BC). Like England, the Republic then was beset between divisions between the conservative and liberal factions. Sulla supported the former, so was not best pleased when having been told to go and fight for his country, his political opponents used his absence to seize power and declare him a traitor – a move they swiftly regretted when he turned his army around and marched straight home!_   
>  _2) Marked for many decades afterwards as Oak-Apple Day. Today it would likely offend some precious snowflake for being too English!_


	9. Restoration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May 1660.   
> And so it ends where it began, with a Stuart king back on the throne and with two men behaving with all the respect and decorum that you would expect from the English nobility.  
> Yup, still bugger all!

**May 1660**   
**Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

The first two weeks of that month were a seemingly endless celebration, first May Day itself marked despite the scowls and glares from the Puritans, then just as those were dying down there was a second set for the proclamation of King Charles the Second.

“With his reign dating back to his late father's execution”, Stephen noted. “A legal thing, I suppose. Oh, and you had a letter.”

The nobleman frowned. Who would be writing to him in London?

“Not Edward?” he asked anxiously.

Jamie shook his head and passed his lover the letter. Stephen looked at it and gulped.

“This is the Royal Seal!” he all but shrieked.

“Is it?” Jamie asked in what was obviously mock confusion. “I did not notice.”

Stephen shot him a dark look but quickly opened his letter.

MDCLX

**May 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

“Four days.”

Stephen nodded. Everyone knew that the king was landing at Dover today. He was almost home.

MDCLX

**May 1660**  
 **Westminster, Middlesex, ENGLAND**

May the twenty-ninth², Anno Domini sixteen hundred and sixty.

Stephen knew all about the chamber system, and how the importance of those who wished to call on their monarch could be judged by how close they got to him through the series of rooms that surrounded his privy chamber.

The chamber where they were. The new king smiled at them both.

“Mr. Buchanan, my Lord Amerike”, he said easily. “It does not seem like over two decades, does it Mr. Buchanan?”

Jamie blushed.

“You were but a boy then, sir”, he said carefully. “You are a man now.”

“That I am both a man and a king, I know that I owe to you both”, the monarch said easily. “If it had not been for the efforts of my Lord Amerike here then I might well not have escaped after Worcester, as I well appreciate.”

He took a deep breath.

“The next few years will not be easy, gentlemen”, he said. “Parliament will want its pound of flesh, and although I would for the most part not have my reign start in blood, blood there must be. But the country for the most part wishes to move on, and that brings me to you. Mr Lord Amerike, I could reward you with anything, but I have a hunch that you would be happier living in your small cottage by the river. The rural idyll is much decried by many, but I can see its appeal.”

He looked pointedly at Jamie, who did not blush. Much.

“Appeal”, the king repeated. “Indeed. However, your son Luke has children of his own now, including I understand a most formidable eldest daughter. I think that he might appreciate a title, do you not?”

“He might, sir”, Stephen smiled.

“Part of my settlement for the peace of this realm is that, painful though it will certainly be for some, there can be no great land transfers”, the king said. “If I were to allow even one, then everyone would be pleading to be another ‘special case’. But there is one holding which fell to parliament when the last heir died earlier this year, an estate called Pemberley up in Derbyshire. It is I am afraid somewhat remote from Oxfordshire but I am sure that Duke Lucius would invite you there from time to time – provided that you behaved yourselves, of course.”

“Thank you, sir!” Stephen said fervently.

“Now I must go play at being king”, their host said. “I wish you well gentlemen, and remember – a Stuart always honours his debts. Goodbye my Lord Amerike. Goodbye cousin.”

MDCLX

Once they were outside Jamie immediately turned on his lover.

“What did he mean by that 'cousin'?” he demanded.

“You are technically his cousin”, Stephen pointed out. “Somewhere around an eighth cousin, as your grandfather John Graham was descended from Robert the Second....”

“Do not come that with me!” Jamie cut in. “He clearly meant more than just that; I am likely eight cousin to a whole host of people and it is hardly something that one just drops into the conversation. Is it to do with my real father?”

Stephen sighed.

“I suppose that there is less harm in telling you now”, he said. “Yes. It was Henry Frederick, James the Sixth’s and First's son, so you are the king’s first cousin once removed.”

The soldier stared at him, open-mouthed.

“You knew that?” he demanded at last. “And you kept it from me all these years?”

“I rather enjoyed being fucked by someone of royal blood”, Stephen grinned.

“And you are about to enjoy it again!” Jamie snapped. 

He dragged his lover into a side-room. Stephen looked at him in astonishment – surely not even his insatiable Winter Soldier would not dare do it in a palace of all places?

MDCLX

He dared!

MDCLX


End file.
